My dad is dead

so yesterday morning my dad collapsed on his usual saturday morning jogging trail. by the time paramedics arrived, he was already dead. apparently he had congestive heart failure...an autopsy is being performed today to figure out the exact cause.

the last thing i did with my dad was argue with him on friday night. he was mad that i drove home from school around 10-11 pm because he says its not safe to drive long distances that late at night, especially when alone. i argued that nothing would ever happen to me and that hes just being his usual paranoid self.

well, the next morning, i woke up to my phone ringing. i answered and heard my mom crying and saying get to the hospital now because something has happened to my dad. i immediately rushed over, not sure what to make of all of this. i thought he simply had a heat stroke or something and that he would be ok when i got there...it was the exact opposite. i walked into the ER to find my mom on the ground screaming and crying with her brother by her side trying to calm her down. as i called my brother in berkeley to tell him to come down as soon as possible, i began crying for the first time in many years.

his body was cold...very cold. it was the first dead body i had actually ever seen...and it was my father's. i half expected him to wake up suddenly and act like nothing ever happened, but of course it was not to be.

my brother and i are taking it very well. thankfully, we are old enough to have our own goals and the determination to see them through. the only thing i am worried about is my mom. she is not taking the situation very well and cries through the night and randomly throughout the day. i am thinking about taking a quarter off just to be at home, but she told me that she doesnt want to put my academic career on hold.

so, just letting you guys know, make sure you let your parents know that you care for them. shit happens, and i never thought something like this would occur.

This is really really really shitty... although you know that already.My father was killed when I was 19... now 21.. A man ran a red light and t bone'd him on his motorcycle...I was awaken to the call that he had passed away from my mother sobbing. I will never forget that day.But things get better man. Just cherish those memories that you guys did have together and make him proud.